The tranquility of the rural area of the municipality of Barras, in the northern part of the state of Piauí, has been shaken in recent days by a series of occurrences considered inexplicable by local residents. Communities in the locality of Cajazeiras and areas near the village of Lameirão report the frequent appearance of mysterious lights in the night sky, a phenomenon that has been causing panic among the population.
According to eyewitness accounts, the unidentified lights not only fly over the region but also appear to display unusual behavior, following vehicles and pedestrians. The phenomenon occurs mainly at night, around 8:30 p.m., and in some cases extends into the early hours of the morning, turning residents’ daily travel into an experience marked by fear and insecurity.
Descriptions point to a luminous and silent object capable of performing what are considered “intelligent” maneuvers: it seems to stop when witnesses stop moving and resumes following them when they attempt to move away. The repeated nature of the episodes has led residents to seek help from the local press in the hope of drawing the attention of authorities and specialists.
The case gained visibility through Portal A Grande Barras, a regional news outlet which, despite having its website currently offline, maintains a strong presence and credibility on social media, serving as an important channel for reports from rural communities.
The initiative to make the case public came from a resident named Conceição, who contacted the reporting team stating that fear had spread throughout the neighborhood. According to her, the goal is to obtain a technical investigation that can clarify the origin of the lights and ensure the safety of the population.
“I contacted the Portal A Grande Barras team because this has been causing a lot of fear among people,” Conceição explained, emphasizing her hope that media exposure will bring “a specialist who can help us unravel this mystery.”
She also reports that the phenomenon is not unprecedented, citing an incident that occurred three years ago involving a young man named Mael, who was followed to his home, where the light remained hovering over the roof. At the time, however, fear prevented him from recording the event.
In light of the growing attention, ufologists and independent researchers have already begun traveling to the region in order to analyze the reports and collect possible evidence related to the phenomenon.
The recurrence of the events appears to have intensified, with new cases emerging within a short period of time. Conceição mentioned a recent episode involving a resident identified as Júnior, from the locality of Malhada de Pedra, who was too traumatized to give an interview.
The reported pattern is consistent: nighttime appearances, always in the same area known as “Salto de Pedra,” and direct interaction with witnesses, characterized by pursuits along isolated roads. This has created an atmosphere of terrifying insecurity, forcing the community to impose an informal curfew, avoiding leaving their homes after nightfall.
One of the most striking testimonies came from farm worker Francisca, who experienced moments of intense tension alongside her husband, Lourival, known as “Lourin.” The couple was returning from relatives’ home around 9:00 p.m. when they spotted what Francisca initially described as a “red star” while climbing the slope at Salto de Pedra.
As they entered a narrower path, they realized the light was following them. The object drew dangerously close in a low-lying area, where it flew low, “over the trees and palm trees,” illuminating the entire surroundings. Panic set in immediately: “Run, my son, the light is going to get us,” Francisca shouted to her husband.
In their desperate escape, Lourival lost his hat. However, the persistence of the phenomenon was such that when they tried to retrieve the lost item moments later, the light instantly reappeared above them, forcing them to abandon the motorcycle and seek shelter in a neighbor’s house.
Francisca’s account rules out the possibility of a conventional drone, emphasizing the object’s size and, above all, the complete absence of noise. “Everything was silent,” she stated, adding that “that thing is big, there’s no way it could be a drone.” The physiological impact of the encounter was severe; she reported needing hospital medical care due to spikes in blood pressure caused by the shock and stated that she continued to suffer physical aftereffects days after the event.
Lourival, Francisca’s husband, corroborated the story with additional details about the object’s behavior while they were taking shelter. According to him, after they entered the house, the light retreated and stopped about 50 meters away, hovering over a jatobá tree.
The phenomenon’s behavior suggested a form of intelligence or responsiveness to human presence: “When we tried to get closer, it kind of moved backward, it followed… but it never let us get close to it,” Lourival explained. The light remained watching the house until around 1:00 a.m., gradually gaining altitude before disappearing, leaving the witnesses in a state of extreme alert.
Other residents have also confirmed sightings, expanding the scope of the phenomenon beyond an isolated case. Another woman, who asked not to be identified, reported seeing the light coming from her sister-in-law’s house in Buriti.
She said the object followed her inside a fenced area, parallel to the road, until it stopped under mango trees on a neighboring property. The sense of helplessness is widespread. Witnesses categorically state that it is not something natural or a known technological device. “I really found it strange… it could be from another world,” the resident confessed, reiterating that fear has paralyzed the community’s nighttime social life.
Today, the TV team released a video showing the presence of two investigators at the site, ufologists Luís Antônio and Fábio Tobler, something that had been awaited by local residents.
The investigators are on vigil and on standby at the location, conducting a stakeout in an attempt to identify and document the phenomenon.
They are equipped with filming cameras and a great deal of courage and determination to try to solve this mystery, which seems to be part of the history of the Brazilian people — especially for those who may not know that the country experienced something similar and even more terrifying in the 1970s.
The situation reported in Barras brings back haunting memories from the history of Brazilian Ufology, particularly Operation Prato, carried out in 1977, mainly in the region of Colares, in the state of Pará. At that time, lights popularly known as “chupa-chupa” were said to have terrorized riverside communities, with reports of alleged attacks involving beams of light that caused paralysis, extreme weakness, and anemia.
Although in Barras there have so far been no reports of direct physical attacks — such as burns or blood extraction — the pattern of pursuits in isolated areas and the intense psychological terror imposed on the population resembles the early stages of the Pará phenomenon, which ultimately required military intervention to investigate the events and control widespread panic.
More recently, in 2014, a similar case was reported in the state of Acre, near the border with Peru. At that time, indigenous people of the Ashaninka ethnic group claimed that aggressive lights descended over their villages, leading them to fire shots at the objects after feeling threatened in their own territory.
New reports of this nature have emerged again in recent years. The geographic isolation of these communities — whether in the Amazon or in the interior of Piauí — often leaves them without official support to deal with phenomena that challenge their understanding of reality, facilitating the spread of collective fear and long-lasting trauma.
In light of consistent testimonies from multiple residents and video recordings captured on mobile phones — showing luminous points in the night sky behaving in anomalous ways — the community of Cajazeiras continues to await answers.
The appeals made by Conceição and Francisca for “specialists” reflect the urgent need for a rational and investigative approach, whether by civilian research groups or authorities, to determine the nature of these lights and restore peace of mind to residents who now fear even looking up at the sky.
